Omakes, or takeouts, are not intended to be seriously considered as part of the main story. At best, they're going to be only subtly referred to, as a "Could it be...? But probably not." moment. Such as the idea of Pen-pen worshipping the Penguin Emperor or having an AT-field.

With that; set your rationality aside, and enjoy what 'just might' be...

::grins::

-i

-i

-i

Shinji made another phone call. "Send them." was the gist of his message, though ofcourse clad well in polite and self-humbling words. He thanked them all for their wellwishes in his recovery.

-i

A few days later, NEON STARS GUNSELLING (of course also displayed in garish redneon) gunshop was open for business. Its apparent owner was a tough old ex-SWAT,who had no need for an apprentice. He chewed at a cigar like his namesake, Patton;though his full name was Patton Shirokawa Sakura. For obvious reasons people justreferred to him as 'Patton-san'.

Section 2 checked his background well, and found nothing that should prevent themfrom approving his business license. A gunsmith was a useful person to have around.Tokyo 3 had a few other gun shops, but they seemed more of the 'off-the-rack' kinds.The old guy dealt in stuff people really needed to defend themselves, along withvarious survival gear.

It should be noted that post-Impact, gun laws in Japan took a rather drastic change.The chaos in those early days were held back only by the force of arms. Too manydied and were abused simply because they had no means to defend themselves. Thespirit of the samurai was as nothing if you didn't have a weapon.

-i

Patton-sat bit down on the cigar and chewed the bits of leaf, moistening and pulpingwith his saliva. He resisted the urge to spit it right out at the face of the sunglasses-wearing man in front of him.

"How much did you say again? Then; no." he said

"All right, how much more do you want? I suppose we are in a rush. I'm sure we canarrive at a... reasonable... exchange."

"It doesn't matter how much. The more you offer the more I don't want it." He spataside, uncaring of propriety. "I don't deal like this."

"Why not? It's a legitimate transaction."

"Ten submachine guns? Yeah. I have those in stock. The laws allow it. I've sold a few.Tokyo 3's almost a war zone, I understand. But like hell I'm letting a bunch of Yakuzaget their hands on more guns."

"Us...? No, Patton-san. You misunderstand. We are a legitimate security company."

The Kusanagi Corporate Security representative certainly looked slick and businesslike.However, there were supposedly easier ways for an organization to get their hands onsuch hardware. Easier... were it not for the battery of background checking. Theremight be military connections, but Section 2 and the freaking MAGI were well outsidetheir reach.

After what happened in the recovery of Shinji Ikari, even Yakuza were leery of tanglingwith Section 2. Case in point, the one in front of him was wearing midnight -blue- suitand dark sunglasses. Black suit and glasses were all but Section 2 uniform, and itwould be incredibly bad to be accused of trying to pass off as them.

"Please, reconsider. This is good money we're offering. Refusing our kind patronagecan only... harm you in the long run."

The old gunsmith snorted. "Like I care. I'm old, ya little twit. There's not much you'rescared of anymore at this age. I'm not gonna need that money when I die. I'm gonnatake a few bastards with me to the grave if I have to."

The Kusanagi stood up, and looked disapproving behind his shades. He left, slammingthe door as he did so.

Patton-san yawned again and got up as well. His cane was a relic of the days justafter Second Impact; a trusty old shotgun fixed into a short staff. With a slight pull;boomstick, and a pointy stick for poking people in the eye when the ammo is dry.

Slowly he walked over and began to close up the store. He made sure that all theguns on display were empty, the ammo boxes under lock and key; then turned in forthe night.

-i

He heard a loung clanging noise. Quickly, he got at his cane; unhooking the shotgunfrom it. He fumbled for the light switch and - "GAAH!"

Patton-san fell back on his bed, clutching his heart.

"Dammit, how many times do I have to tell you to STOP doing that? There are otherentrances to this place, you know."

The figure, clad in black, pointed up to the skylight at his ceiling. As if it... no- she,for that shape was hard to mistake; blamed him for choosing to live on the top floorof a two-story building.

"I'm getting too old for this shit. You're going to kill me one of these days..."

The black-clad figure stared back impassively, with its eerily glowing red eyes overa strange gas mask. She made a deeply sarcastic cutsy and walked away. However,just before his door, she stopped and stared at a chalkboard. Written there was'Check Below - KA'.

Below the chalkboard was a steel cabinet with an electronic lock. Tapping in a fewnumbers, she opened it up. Inside where what looked to be a strange box-like gunwith twin barrels. She held it up to him.

"Yeah... me and Kensuke just finished that. He calls it a Storm Bolter, so you can firetwo shots at once. I don't know -why- you'd want to burn through ammo even faster,those custom rounds are expensive, but there ya go." The old gunsmith sighed andtapped his cane. "It should work. The kid spent two hours praying over it."

The armored female recognized where on her own thick bracers she could attach thething. A thin trigger line ran from it to her thumb. She made a pose.

"Yeah. That kid scares me sometimes. Not as scary as you, though."

"My, what MEAN thing to say, Patton-san!" said the female, holding both deadly fistsunder her chin cutely. Her left arm was encased in an odd metal gauntlet, sizable butlight; fitting like a glove and ending in claws. Similar was the right, but the fingers wereblunted. A large skull etched over the back of the hands reinforced the intimidatingsight of rudimentary Power Claws and Power Fist.

The old man let out another "Gaaah!" and made warding motions. "Dammit! That'swhat I mean. That's creepy! Don't talk like that! Don't move like that!"

She pressed a button on her helmet. When she spoke again her voice was loud, harshand rasping with electronic modulation. "Is this better?"

"Yes." The old man began to breathe normally. "Somehow Darth Vader with breasts isjust less disturbing."

Fsssh... click. Unsuprisingly, it was Maya Ibuki. There was another suit like hersthough, and someone else did choose to wear that upon occasion. "Who?" she asked.

Patton-san grimaced. The apalling ignorance of the new generation. "Never you mind.I'll bet you don't know who Batman is, either."

"Oh! I know him! Makoto-kun has manga about him. He's the guy in a black suit, right?Fighting crime?"

"Like you. Yes."

"His parents were killed on a baseball diamond, so he swore to fight crime using thepower of baseball. His greatest enemy is the Jester, who launches jokes and insultsand uses all sorts of dirty tricks! The most dangerous is Mister Froze, with his iceshooting cannon! Good this the Bat-man can hit those snowballs right out of the park!"

The gunsmith groaned and lay back down on his bed. He stared up at the stars. "Whydidn't I just die at the Second Impact, Kami-sama? Why are you punishing me thisway? Just... strike me down. Strike me down, now."

"Please, Patton-san! There's no need for such negativity!" Maya felt a little guilty inthat she hadn't told him that Second Impact was self-inflicted. That knowledge woulddo more harm than help, though.

"When the Chief pulled me out of retirement just because Ikari-san needed my help, Ihad no idea this was the sort of shit waiting for me." He groaned again. "I'm gettingtoo old for this."

"I... I'm sorry, Patton-san. Do you regret coming here? We can find someone else tomind the store and the safehouse, if you want..."

"No, no." The old man got back up and rubbed his tough, age-lined face. "If you wantto play superhero, so be it. Someone has to make some sense around here. I hate thecriminal bastards as much as anyone. Let Ikari-san defend this city from the bigthreats, we'll protect the people in another way."

"Thank you, Patton-san."

"Graah. I still can't believe how -corrupt- the police here are. I guess that's what youget if some machines are running the city. The politicians almost have nothing to doexcept just feed off the fools who elected them just to have that useless feeling ofdemocracy."

"Um... the MAGI -are- doing a good job. Every problem given to them do recieve aprompt solution."

"Yes, yes. I'm still not gonna trust no machine to run my life. But to really screw up,you need -human intervention-. The military have their own laws. The civilians... wejust have to make the best of it."

Maya nodded. "There are a disturbing amount of criminals with access to high-powerarms." It was a good thing her suit was tested against most assault rifles in use. Ithad to be one of the most expensive, most advanced combat suits in existence. ThatJet Alone would just part with it at Shinji-kun's say-so boggled the mind. But that wasShinji-kun... he always found ways to reassure her faith.

"You better check out Kusanagi in that computer of yours. They're out for trouble."

"Sorry for disturbing your sleep, Patton-san. I'm going to get some rest too. It's beena hard night. I don't know if I could have gone so long without the flexible exoframein this thing."

"Yeah. Well, good night. Remember that -you're- still the most important part of thatsuit. If you want to play at this, then be sure to keep yourself on top of your game."

-i

Maya went down into the safehouse, much changed over the past months. It nowhad more armored reinforcements, a more secure main entryway, and a bank ofsophisticated monitors dominated a wall. The MAGI devoted a small chunk of itsprocessing power to monitoring the city and commanding her sluit. It was a neglegiblefraction of the gargantuan capacities of that supercomputer.

She stripped out of her battlesuit and slid into the bed sweaty and only in her sheerunderwear. She wriggled out the kinks in her muscles. It was all so hard, yet also sorewarding.

Truthfully, she couldn't remember just when it was she decided to 'play at' being a'superhero'. She knew exactly when she put on the improved armored plugsuit andwent out into the night, but her motivations before that... were unclear.

A search to make herself equal in Shinji's eye's seemed a sizable part of it. He wentout without fear to defend the city. He had the power, and used it well. She too, hadpower all her own... she couldn't be content with being just mousy little Maya. Shehad to help as well, and directly.

He nodded. He began to pull strings; almost invisible but far-reaching. Agents Jiro andKentaro helped set up the main underground safehouse into her lair. Kensuke, beingmerely two doors away, was too eager to offer his assistance. With the help of anactual gunsmith and with her access to the MAGI, he soon had several ideas forpainful, but nonlethal weapons. Of course, as was his developing trend, all couldbecome extremely deadly with just the flick of a switch or changing the clip. Even Reihad her own input.

In the end, it was she that had to risk her own neck. All of them... they all cared.They respected her need.

Maya supposed they wouldn't think badly if she stopped. They expected nothing fromher, they cared for her either way. But she felt she had a responsibility too, to thepeople of Tokyo 3 and to herself.

And thus the Battlesister roamed the night roofs of Tokyo 3.

On occasion, Vigilante Rei would lend a hand, but no one ever remembered seeing her.Maya cultivated an aura of fear and panic, for criminals are a superstitious lot. A fewtricks with the AT-field from Rei in the shadows, and soon the rumors of somethingdark and deadly lurking in the darkness began to take root. Some actually stoppedcrime entirely

These were also incidentally, the ones hospitalized by the Red-eyed Demon duringShinji's disappearance.

Maya slowly drifted to sleep. She could still hear it... DAKKA! Rubber-tipped bolterrounds stopped a mugging, maybe even a stabbing. DAKKA! Glop rounds a raping. Akick here, a punch there. Snapping a metal pole with her Power Claw. Hopefully a fewthugs would forever forsake their useless, destructive life of crime.

She wanted to bring Justice. She didn't want to kill. Not again. Not for herself. Shedidn't want to start enjoying it. Not unless it's for Shinji-kun.

Maya slept and did not dream.

-i

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